Friday July 23rd, 2010
Welcome back to Term 3.
If you have a look at the front page of our site you will notice there are some very important dates this term for students in Year 12. During the Trial HSC or around the dates of the trial there are many other HSC projects due. We have Music, Drama, Visual Arts and Industrial Technology projects due for completion and marking for the HSC. As I have previously stated we constantly try to monitor the well-being of our students especially in these situations. Please help us if you notice your son or daughter beginning to go under due to the stress of the term. We can help if we are told.
This week I visited a year 7 class and asked them to write down three things that are good about Crestwood and three things that we could do to improve the school. I have used the program WORDLE to do this. It is something (another Web2.0 tool) we will be looking at to assist students learning and as a presentation tool. The larger words indicate more frequent responses by students.
You might need to cut and paste this URL into a browser if the link doesn't work.
http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/2241319/What%27s_Good_About_Crestwood_High_School_-_Year_7
The responses to what needs to be improved can be found at
http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/2241364/Crestwood_High_School_-_What_Needs_Improving_%28Year_7%29
As a school we are working on a number of areas for the professional learning of staff. One of the areas we are focussing on is the mental health of our students. We began the term with a very informative discussion from Megan Booth about the mental health of young people. It was very informative and the staff appreciated her stories and her presentation. This theme will be continued through the term.
Our school counsellor has suggested a book for staff and parents (same thing in most cases). It is called "teenagers, Alcohol and Drugs" by Paul Dillon and published by Allan and Unwin. I haven't read it but those who have say it is very comprehensive. Paul Dillon is a well acknowledged author and speaker on teenagers and their use of drugs, legal or otherwise.